"Instead, the former Austrian
Chancellor announced on the evening of the 9th of March the surprising
and arbitrary resolution decided on by himself to hold an election
within a few days which, under the prevailing circumstances and
especially according to the details provided for the execution of the
election, could and was to have the sole purpose of oppressing
politically the predominant majority of the population of Austria. As
could have been foreseen, this procedure, being a flagrant violation
of the agreement of Berchtesgaden, led to a very critical point in
Austria's internal situation. It was only natural that the members of
the then Austrian Cabinet who had not taken part in the decision for
an election protested very strongly against it. Therefore a crisis of
the Cabinet occurred in Vienna which, on the 11th of March, resulted
in the resignation of the former Chancellor and in the formation of a
new Cabinet. It is untrue that the Reich used forceful pressure to
bring about this development. Especially the assertion which was
spread later by the former Chancellor that the German Government had
presented the Federal President with a conditional ultimatum, is a
pure invention; according to the ultimatum he had to appoint a
proposed candidate as Chancellor and to form a Cabinet conforming to
the proposals of the German Government otherwise the invasion of
Austria by German troops was held in prospect. The truth of the matter
is that the question of sending military or police forces from the
Reich was only brought up when the newly formed Austrian Cabinet
addressed a telegram, already published by the press, to the German
Government urgently asking for the dispatch of German troops as soon
as possible in order to restore peace and in order to avoid bloodshed.
Faced with the immediately threatening danger of a bloody civil war in
Austria, the German Government then decided to comply with the appeal
addressed to it.

"This being the state of affairs, it is impossible that the
attitude of the German Government as asserted in your letter could
lead to some unforseeable reactions. A complete picture of the
political situation is given in the proclamation which, at noon today,
the German Reich Chancellor has addressed to the German people.
Dangerous reactions to this situation can take place only if
eventually a third party should try to exercise its influence contrary
to the peaceful intentions and legitimate aims of the German
Government on the shaping of events in Austria, which would be
incompatible with the right of self-government of the German people."